Welcome!

Hello, and thank you for stumbling upon Stilettos or Savings! There’s a saying often quoted about life being short, so buy the shoes… but what if you didn’t? What would that allow you to do instead?

This blog is about learning to live a life that doesn’t revolve around material things – although I too have a weakness for five-inch heels and it’s no easy task to ignore (nearly) every pretty pump that comes my way.

My name is DC Beth and I am a former figure skater, sorority girl, Army soldier and stiletto aficionado. I live in D.C. with my boyfriend Mr. Cabbage. Together we are a dual income no kids (DINK) couple working toward complete financial freedom so we can live the rest of lives anyway we choose.

I was raised in Florida by a single mother who worked as an accountant. I grew up in an apartment where on occasion Russian roulette was played with the utility bills and I knew what it was like for either the electricity, phone or water being shut off on occasion. I watched as my mom played the shell game with her credit card balances, transferring balances from card-to-card hoping the creditors, interest rates and penalties wouldn’t catch up with her. She tried to raise me to know better. When I went to college, I thought I was so much more mature than my peers, especially with money. I had learned to cut coupons, and keep them organized, although I don’t remember hardly ever using them. I rolled all of my pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and thought that was putting some sort of dent into helping the household finances. It wasn’t. When I was little I told my mom I didn’t need an allowance like everyone else – she accepted that and the topic was never revisited. There are many stories that will come from my background and the way I was raised… but don’t worry…. I want to cover many other topics here as well! The main takeaway from my background is that no matter how well I am doing now, I was not gifted the money, I did not inherit it, I was not born rich, I did not go to Ivy league, and I am not a doctor or a lawyer. Anyone can do what I am doing with hard work, determination and carefully followed plans.

What I’ll cover

Love & Money: How Mr. Cabbage and I handle tough money talks and why we will never combine our money

How We Got Here (Learned Behavior): Where I came from and what I learned from it (the good, the bad, and the ugly)

Budgets/Progress Reports – Zero balance monthly budgets, progress on the goals of saving for retirement and paying down the enormous DC mortgage